2 families seek changes in law after losing cabins in Payette auction

Two Idaho families are researching their legal options after they lost their cabins at the latest Payette Lake state land auction August 19.

Author:
By Benton Alexander Smith , KTVB

Published:
5:36 PM MDT October 7, 2016

Two Idaho families are researching their legal options after they lost their cabins at the latest Payette Lake state land auction August 19.

The Idaho Land Board gave the Idaho Department of Lands the power to sell the land it owns at Priest and Payette lakes in 2010. According to the state constitution, the only method the state can use to sell the land is an auction.

Many families have owned cabins on the state land at the two lakes for decades, leasing the land underneath their cabins from the state. Now that the state wants to auction its land at these locations, many have risked losing their cabins by participating in the auction.

Two families lost their cabins to outside bidders at the most recent Payette Lake auction August 19 -- Kevin Hanigan, executive director of the Idaho Auto Dealers Association, and Jean Weaver, VP of corporate affairs at Fiberpipe. Both cabin owners were outbid during the auction when their property sold above appraised value -- Weaver's by $27,500 and Hanigan's by $14,000.